The Times, They Are A’Changin’…

Yesterday, I sold the old green truck, the 1997 Ford Ranger that belonged to my late sister. As my favorite wife and I continue the process of preparing for a move out of Dallas, it was obvious the truck would need to go. Wherever we go, I did not want to rely on the truck to make the trip. It was not because it was in bad condition; quite the contrary, it only had 125,000 miles on it and the AC works and it has reasonably new tires and it is quite serviceable as a utility pickup. But as we move forward, we need to be conscious of gas mileage; it was not shy about drinking gas. And, for a while, I need space in my garage to support my efforts to do cosmetic work on the house.

So, I sold the old green beast. The good part is that I sold it to a good friend; it fit nicely into his plans. And, perhaps most importantly, he agreed to let me use it any time I need a truck…which is apt to come at any time and with some degree of frequency.

We may well need another vehicle, but we’ll wait to get one until we decide whether to put the 2002 Camry in top operating condition, in which case we’ll get an inexpensive “second car” to serve as basic transportation. In the event the Camry’s front suspension issues are will cost more than we want to spend, we’ll make it the “second car” and will buy a primary car to replace it. After spending a significant part of my life buying new cars when it was time for a car, several years ago I came to my senses. At that point, I decided buying a new car was more than a little wasteful; for me, it was utterly insane.

I’ve never had money to burn, and certainly don’t have money to burn in the early years of my retirement, when I’m living entirely off savings. I decided to allow others, whose mindsets paralleled the one I once had, to buy new cars, thereby taking the bulk of the early-onset value shrinkage. Though used cars are no longer quite as inexpensive compared to new cars as they once were, buying used still saves a considerable amount of money.

I will miss having a pickup; I’ve always wanted one because they are so useful. But, for today, a pickup is not the vehicle we need. It will go on to serve my friend. My sister, who was evangelical about recycling and reuse of “stuff,”would be thrilled to learn the old green beast is going to continue to be used and the money the beast brought will go toward transportation…just in a different form, perhaps.